In fall 2018, Trifo was spun out of a larger company, PerceptIn, that had developed highly advanced robotics. PerceptIn management split the company into two: PerceptIn would focus on robotics for business applications, Trifo would focus on consumer applications.
As a result of this split and the new Trifo brand, Trifo had zero brand recognition in the U.S. Regardless, Trifo management retained UPRAISE to launch its first robotic product in the U.S., a smart robotic vacuum branded “Ironpie.”
The robotic vacuum market is a very crowded space and dominated by iRobot’s Roomba. In 2018, the total U.S. consumer floor cleaning market grew 8 percent, while the robotic vacuum market expanded at a 56 percent rate. The robotic vacuum market is just 10 percent of the total vacuum category, with a total accessible market (TAM) of 80 million units.
Roomba sales grew 54 percent in 2017 (the last year for which numbers are available), and Roomba products account for 4 of the top 10 sellers, and 60 percent of market share.
Against these dynamics, Trifo management decided to launch Ironpie at CES 2019.
The Campaign
The goal of the campaign included two metrics:
- Secure media coverage in 10-12 Tier 1 media outlets
- Increase Trifo’s social media following by 50 percent
Our recommendations to launch Ironpie included a combination of media pre-briefs coordinated with social media, participation in ShowStoppers® and creative events that drew media and prospects to the Trifo booth.
The goal of our activities was to encourage influencers to witness Ironpie in action. We did not have a product to send to editors in advance, so we had to rely on scheduled activities at CES. We wanted to highlight Ironpie’s superior features, such as improved, more efficient navigation and the surveillance camera feature.
The Results
The campaign results surpassed both metrics, including media coverage in Tier 1 publications such as:
By the end of CES, UPRAISE had secured 27 original articles in top tier, consumer tech, robotics, lifestyle media and more … This against the KPI of 10-12 articles.
We had also doubled Trifo’s social media following, as compared to the metric of increasing the following by 50 percent.
Building on the success of CES 2019, Trifo and UPRAISE are planning two new product launches and a series of supporting marketing projects to accelerate the company’s growth.
Make sure you’re prepared for CES 2020. UPRAISE has you covered.